


Andreil Prompt Fill Drabbles

by Lover_of_Fairy_Tails



Series: AFTG Drabbles [4]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe, Canon Universe, Domestic Fluff, Drabble, Drabble Collection, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Future Fic, Humor, Light Angst, M/M, Tumblr Ask Box Fic, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-09
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-07-28 12:41:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16241828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lover_of_Fairy_Tails/pseuds/Lover_of_Fairy_Tails
Summary: This is a collection of Andreil ask box prompt fills from my Tumblr.Each chapter is a different Prompt.The Prompts thus far:Chapter 1 - "You Lied To Me"Chapter 2 - "Come Over Here and Make Me"Chapter 3 - "Kiss Me"Chapter 4  - "You heard me. Take. It. Off."Chapter 5 - "Andrew, don't leave me."Chapter 6 - "It Could Be Worse."Chapter 7 - "I'm Pregnant."Chapter 8 - "I thought you were dead."Chapter 9 - "You fainted straight into my arms. You know, if you wanted my attention you didn’t have to go to such extremes.”





	1. You Lied To Me

Neil hung up his phone by flicking it shut as hard as he could, but it did nothing to stop the trembling in his hands. He needed to get away, he needed to escape his thoughts, and so he dropped the phone back into his pocket and started to run.  
-  
Five minutes before he had been halfway through his morning run when his phone started buzzing in the pocket of his sweatpants. He stopped and fished it out to check who was calling him. It was the spring semester of his second year at Palmetto, and unlike the previous year he no longer tried to ignore the small device which tied him to the other Foxes. He had grown used to their need for instant contact with him and had even started to enjoy the constant string of texts they sent him about how their day was going. Also with his new position of vice-captain he had more responsibilities to his team, and couldn’t afford to ignore a call in case it turned out to be an emergency.  
Though the moment he recognized the number calling he thought he should have ignored the buzzing and kept running. He wished he didn’t have to receive calls like this at all but knew he had to answer it anyway. So he pressed his thumb down hard on the accept call button and held his phone up to his ear without saying a word.

“Hello Neil, this is Special Agent Browning.”  
-  
After his conversation with Agent Browning he had run until he could just barely move his legs anymore. At which time he found a secluded spot, it might have been a park of some kind and sat down in the grass and finally let himself begin to process what Browning had told him. An unknown amount of time later when his legs felt less like mush and his thoughts had spiraled so deep that he needed to stop thinking altogether he got up and started his run back.

Hours later he made it back to Palmetto’s campus just as the sun was setting. His legs just felt numb now as he slowed to a walk, and made his way through the student parking lot.

He was nearly back at Fox Tower when a voice called out and startled him. “You lied to me.”

Neil spun around a second later when he realized he recognized the voice. It was a testament to how badly Browning’s call had affected him that he hadn’t even noticed that he’d just walked passed Andrew’s car, or that Andrew himself was leaning against it smoking.

Neil took in Andrew, and let the emotions that accompanied the familiar sight wash over him and help calm his frayed nerves. Andrew’s face looked as impassive as ever, but there was a small pile of cigarette butts at his feet which betrayed how long he had been standing there waiting for him to return.

As Neil walked back to stand in front of him he thought about what Andrew had just accused him of and decided he wasn’t sure he was ready to have that conversation with him yet. Even though he doubted Andrew would let him go for long without an explanation. “I don’t know what you mean, I haven’t lied to you in months,” Neil told him as he came to a stop directly in front of him with just a few inches left between their bodies.

Andrew very obviously did not like his answer if the way he dropped his unfinished cigarette to the ground and stomped it out hard with his boot was anything to go by. When the cigarette was nothing more than a smear of ash and paper on the concrete Andrew looked up at him and said, “You’re lying to me now, you told me you weren’t going to run anymore.”

“I’m sure you’ve noticed since I sleep in the bunk below yours, but I get up and go for a run every morning.” Neil countered pettily.

“This wasn’t just a morning jog. This was you running from something. You skipped classes, ignored all of your calls and texts, and even missed your precious Exy practice.”

Neil hadn’t really realized until he had noticed the sun beginning to set how long he had been gone for. He had felt his phone buzzing in his pocket all day, but hadn’t been able to bring himself to reach for it again after that first call this morning.

When he went for too long without responding, Andrew reached into Neil’s pocket and pulled out his phone. He flipped it open and held it up in front of Neil to show him just how many missed calls and text he had ignored.

It was a lot.

Neil didn’t respond, he couldn’t. There wasn’t anything he could say to Andrew to justify his actions. They were the actions of the person he had been when he had first arrived at Palmetto, not who he was now. He had been selfish today and hadn’t even spared a thought for the people who cared about him now, and who were obviously worried about him being missing for a whole day.

Andrew flipped his phone shut and shoved it back into the pocket of Neil’s pants. “Your teammates who are more inclined towards the dramatics got so worked up that they forced Wymack to call the number Agent Browning left behind and report you missing. Turns out their worry didn’t bother him in the slightest since he talked to you this morning. Of course that didn’t make them feel any better since hours had already passed.”

Neil knew he shouldn’t be, but he was still surprised by how far the Foxes had gone in their search for him. It made him feel all the more shitty, and to add on top of that he had made Andrew doubt his promise to not run anymore.

Neil knew there was no point in putting this conversation off any longer, he owed Andrew answers. “Browning called me this morning to tell me that Jackson Plank had been apprehended during a sting operation in Baltimore. He had apparently been meeting with a group of people for unknown reasons. The group won’t talk, but Browning believes everyone there had some kind of connection to my father.”

Neil continued to tell Andrew some more of the details Browning had told him about without waver. Once Neil was finished Andrew was silent for a while before saying, “That doesn’t explain to me why you ran.”

“I did run,” Neil confirmed, “but I had no intentions of not coming back. I just didn’t realize how much time had passed while I had been thinking.”

“Thinking about what?” Andrew asked.

Neil ran a hand through his hair, trying to figure out how to concisely explain the thoughts that had been plaguing him since that morning. “It’s almost been a year since Baltimore since I became somebody real, and for some reason Browning’s call reminded me of how fragile everything can be still. It would only take one of my father’s men trying to get revenge for him to take me out, or for Ichirou to decide I’m not worth it anymore and get rid of me.”

“Ichirou is not going to change his mind about you, and I will not let any of them touch you again. So next time you get an unwanted phone call find a better coping mechanism for dealing with it,” Andrew told him.

It was reassuring to hear Andrew tell him that, even if he wasn’t positive those things would always remain true. It also made Neil smile for the first time that day, because out of everyone he knew Andrew had no right to talk to him about coping mechanisms. “Says the person who sits on rooftops and chain smokes.”

“Shut up,” Andrew said as he reached out and placed his hand on the small of Neil’s back. He used it to pull Neil forward to close the small distance between them. The then brought his other hand up to cup his jaw. He ran his thumb against Neil’s lips once before pulling him down and crashing their lips together.

The kiss was harsh, and Neil knew it was Andrew’s way of letting him know just how worried he had been today. Soon though their kiss softened to something slow and gentle.

Much too soon Andrew pulled back, and said, “Let’s go inside before the others start arranging a search party for you.”

Neil stepped back out of their embrace and turned to face Fox Tower. “Sounds good, I’m ready to be home.”


	2. Come Over Here and Make Me

Neil closed the door to his apartment and crashed face first onto the sofa. “Practice was exhausting today.”

“Having to listen to you talk about Exy practice is exhausting,” Andrew replied, which caused Neil to smirk.

“Oh, I figured since you haven’t gotten bored of me yet that you liked listening to me drone on and on about Exy practice.”

“Don’t say such stupid things, and stop smirking like an idiot.”

“Come over here and make me,” Neil’s automatic response came after years of saying it to Andrew in playful antagonization. Except today the moment the words left his lips his smile withered and died.

Neil sat up on his sofa and glanced around his dark empty apartment. It was his first year pro, and his first year living alone since he had found a home with the Foxes. He guessed you could call his style minimalist, but really that was just because he had only lived here for a few weeks and hadn’t bothered putting anything up yet. He felt like if he started to put anything on the walls it would mean he was trying to make this place permanent, and that was something he didn’t want. This apartment that was halfway across the country from Andrew and hours away from the closest Fox could never be home.

He switched his cell phone over to his other ear even though he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear how Andrew responded to his slip up, but after a few more moments the silence started to become oppressive. Neil tried to speak up and break it, but Andrew interrupted him. “In a month.”

Neil released a small humorless laugh. A month had already passed since he had last seen Andrew when he had come to help him move into his new apartment, and having to wait another month to see him again hurt worse than a physical blow. “Yeah, okay.”

-One year later - 

Neil closed the door to his apartment and flopped down onto the couch. “Practice was exhausting,” he said as he stretched out over the couch.

“That’s because you insist on running extra drills every day,” Andrew replied.

This was true. The striker line needed work, and Neil had agreed to start running extra drills with them. He might come back tired every day, but at least the drills were paying off. The line had made a dramatic increase in number of attempts on the goal in their last game.

“Stop thinking about Exy,” Andrew commanded.

“Come over here and make me,” came Neil’s automatic response. He felt himself grinning whenever he heard footsteps coming towards him. He opened his eyes when he felt Andrew’s weight settle around him, and saw that he was straddling his hips. Andrew grabbed his hands and pinned them over Neil’s head against the armrest. He then entwined their fingers together, and finally leaned down till their mouths met.

They kissed for what felt like hours. Neil reveled in the way Andrew pressed him down into their sofa, in their apartment, in the city they lived in and played for the same professional team. They kissed until Neil felt another weight jump up unto the sofa and Andrew broke away from him. They both looked down at where their legs had become entangled and saw King had jumped up and curled into a tiny spot between their feet.

Andrew looked back up at him. “Your cat is a nuisance.”

“She’s our cat now,” Neil replied with a smirk.

Andrew sat up and started shoving at Neil until he moved to make room so that they could both sit on the sofa. King seemed bothered by all their movement, but not bothered enough to actually move away from them.

Once they were all settled again Neil spoke up, “You know I’ve been thinking we should get another cat, so King can have a companion while we're gone for games.”

Andrew moved his head to stare down at where King was sleeping curled up in a tight ball. He didn’t say anything, which Neil took to mean he was thinking about his sudden proposal.

After a few moments of sitting in comfortable silence Andrew finally answered, “I get to pick this one though.”

Andrew hadn’t looked back at him, which was probably a good thing because Neil felt himself smiling ridiculously large and knew Andrew would have something to say about it. Neil had never felt more grateful for the day Coach Wymack had shown up in Millport and offered him a place with the Foxes. It had given him a home, a family, a chance to play Exy, and a future.

“Of course, but I think I promised Nicky that he could name it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also since this first half of this fic takes place Neil's first year pro it would be set the same year as my fic "Unannounced Surprise."
> 
> Timeline wise. This fic starts about a month after Neil joins his Pro Team in Boston, so around August/September.  
> "Unannounced Surprise" Happens sometime in Feb. - Since I said winter was in full swing.-


	3. Kiss Me

Neil was tired. It was very late, and their group had just gotten to the house in Columbia after a night out at Eden’s and an Exy game before that. They had won the game thus clenching the number one spot of their conference. Neil had celebrated the win by drinking a little more than he usually did tonight, though it was nowhere near the amount the others consumed regularly.

After Andrew pulled into the driveway Neil was first out of the car, he unlocked the door with his key, and upon entering the house he headed straight up to the room he shared with Andrew. Usually, he would hang around downstairs with Andrew making sure everyone else was safely tucked away, and that all the doors were locked. Then they would head upstairs together, but tonight he was tired, a little tipsy, and just wanted to be in bed already. Once upstairs he’d gotten ready for bed quickly, then burrowed into the blankets to wait for Andrew.

Neil was lying in bed eyes closed when he heard Andrew come into the room. He didn’t open his eyes until he felt a dip in the mattress and Andrew move over him to get to his side of the bed. Andrew laid down beside him but didn’t look over at him as he pulled the blankets up and around himself. Which was a good thing because it gave Neil the ability to stare openly at him.

One would think that with Andrew nestled into the blankets and the yellow glow from the streetlights shining off his pale hair and skin he would look soft, but Neil wasn’t sure Andrew Minyard could ever look soft. In his mind Andrew would always be fierce, unrelenting, and solid. They were the reasons Neil felt he could trust pieces of himself with Andrew during a time when he felt like he couldn’t trust anyone. They were the same qualities that still made Andrew the most important person in his life now that Neil was free of his father and free to live the life that he wanted.

Looking at Andrew and thinking about everything he had done for him was making a warm feeling surge up in his chest and spread all over his body. The warmth felt like it was going to burn a hole straight through his chest, and he needed to do something about it before it consumed him whole.

“Kiss me.”

Andrew’s response was immediate. “You’re drunk.”

“Yes,” Neil confirmed. Then added, “Just a little though.” 

Andrew didn’t respond to that, probably thinking that Neil was going to drop the matter. Which he really should have known better by now, since Neil wasn’t one to give up without a fight. “I still want a kiss.”

“I’m not doing anything with you while you are in this state,” Andrew said while gesturing towards Neil with a barely raised flick of his wrist.

Which caused Neil to roll his eyes. “I don’t want to do anything more. I just want one kiss.”

Andrew finally opened his eyes and rolled onto his side to look at Neil. Now that they were laying with their faces only inches apart it would be so easy for him to move his head just slightly forward and kiss Andrew, but he never would. That would be crossing the line Andrew was setting right now, and Neil would never ever cross any of Andrew’s lines uninvited.

So he waited while Andrew studied his face for a moment before he finally said, “One kiss and then you will shut up and let me sleep.”

Neil nodded his head against the pillow eagerly. “Yes.”

Andrew’s eyes roamed over his face for a second more before they landed on his lips and held. Neil’s eyes fluttered shut as Andrew leaned forward and pressed the briefest of kiss to his lips.

The warmth flared in his chest again.

“Thank you.”

Andrew pulled his head back to his side of the bed. “Don’t thank me for something so simple, now go to sleep Neil.”

It might have been just a simple kiss, but Neil would be willing to thank Andrew for anything and everything he willingly gave to him.


	4. You heard me. Take. It. Off.

It had been a while since Neil had done his laundry. Too long really, but he was just so busy with classes and dealing with being the captain of the Foxes that little things like laundry slipped by. Though right now, as he was already running ten minutes late for his meet up with Matt to go see a movie and still hadn’t found a single clean shirt, he really wished he had taken some time to wash his clothes.

It was Matt’s last year at Palmetto a fact which he constantly used to coerce Neil into going out and doing things with him, though he really didn’t need to. Neil liked going out and doing things with Matt, he was his best friend after all. Sometimes Neil just liked staying in and doing things with Andrew more. Especially when their room was devoid of Kevin like it was this weekend since he had flown out to meet with prospective professional teams.

He had just received another text from Matt saying that Nicky, Aaron and he were already at the movie theater and were saving him and Andrew seats. Neil texted him back a quick be there soon and slammed his sock and underwear drawer closed after not finding any hidden clean shirts inside. He walked back to his closet to dig through it one more time, who knows maybe a shirt had miraculously appeared in the last two minutes.

He was pushing aside dirty clothes and sneakers when he spotted a shopping bag shoved into the back corner of his closet. He grabbed the bag thinking he might have gotten lucky after all and looked inside. Except as soon as he saw what was inside he remembered why he had shoved the bag into the back of his closet in the first place. He pulled out the white shirt and groaned at the big black lettering on the front that read S(exy).

The shirt had been a gift from Nicky, who proclaimed that it was absolutely perfect for him. Neil hadn’t agreed then and still thought the shirt was ridiculous, but he had no other options. So he pulled the shirt over his head and walked out of the bedroom to meet Andrew who was waiting for him in the living room.

As soon as Neil stepped foot out of the bedroom he was greeted with a “No.” Which was immediately followed by a “Take it off.”

Neil scowled, but otherwise ignored Andrew as he kept walking towards the door. He knew the shirt was bad, but they were already running late and he didn’t have anything else to wear.

As Neil was about to walk past him Andrew moved so that he was blocking Neil’s path to the door. Andrew stared straight at him and punctuated each word like a threat as he said, “You heard me. Take. It. Off.”

Lesser people might have faltered at Andrew’s harsh tone, but not Neil. “Or what?” He asked because he really just couldn’t resist trying to rile up Andrew.

Andrew took a step closer towards him, and slide two fingers underneath his armband in a clear sign as he said, “Or I will take it off of you permanently.”

Neil felt a thrill go up his spine at the thought and the memories it conjured of Andrew removing the clothes from his body. “We will have to save the foreplay for later sweetheart,” Neil said sarcastically. Although he also kind of meant it if Andrew was up for it tonight when they got back. Then in a less sarcastic tone and more matter of fact he added, “But right now were late and this is the only clean shirt I have.”

Andrew slide his fingers back out of his armband and bumped hard into Neil as he stalked past him towards their bedroom. Neil spun around to follow him and watched as Andrew yanked open his own closet and pulled out a plain black t-shirt. Andrew threw the shirt at him and stalked back passed him to the living room.

Neil switched shirts and thought that he probably should have just asked to borrow one of Andrew’s shirts ten minutes ago. Once they were in the car and finally on the way to the movie theater Neil asked, “So is your offer still going to be an option for when we get back?”

Andrew didn’t make any kind of indication that he had heard him although Neil knew he had, and after a while Neil decided he wasn’t going to get an answer. Then a few minutes later he was surprised by Andrew’s, “Yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is probably supposed to be a sexy time prompt, but I couldn't imagine Andrew or Neil demanding the other to take their clothes off in that kind of situation.  
> Too much trauma for both of them for that to occur.
> 
> Also I couldn't decide between:  
> S(exy)  
> s(Exy)  
> (s)Exy  
> (S)Exy


	5. Andrew, don't leave me.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This prompt title sound angsty as hell, but I somehow managed to turn it into pure fluff and humor.
> 
> The original prompt title was, "Please, don't leave me." But I couldn't bring myself to write either of them ever saying the forbidden word, and I don't really see them ever leaving each other in any kind of real way. Soooooooo fluff and humor it is.

The Foxes had moved back into Fox Tower for the start of summer practices last week. It was Matt’s fourth year at Palmetto and fourth time to be moving into the dorm with a new set of roommates. Though this year it wasn’t completely new, because he had been roommates with Aaron for the last two months of last school year. Although Aaron hadn’t stuck around too much during that time. He had spent most of his time out with Katelyn, and when he was at the dorm he mostly kept to himself and studied.

The new addition to his dorm this year was Nicky. It was the Monster’s third year and Matt thought that by now he understood them pretty well, but just within the first week of living with Aaron and Nicky that had proven untrue. He decided that he really shouldn’t be surprised anymore by that fact, especially after Neil had come in and changed everyone’s perceptions of them last year. Like by proving that Andrew Minyard did in fact have a heart, even if it only seemed to beat for him.

The Monsters, especially Nicky and Aaron, had been so submissive to Andrew for the first year and a half, and Andrew had been so much that it had been easy to look past them to focus solely on Andrew. Now though, and really starting during the second semester of last school year, Matt was beginning to see Aaron and Nicky as their own people, without being shadowed by Andrew’s overwhelming presence.

Truthfully Aaron’s personality wasn’t all that different he still only had two moods quiet or sarcastic and sneering unless Katelyn was around then he was like a different person. What Matt had learned from rooming with him was that he was really freaking smart, and had some of the best grades on the whole team. Hell, he probably had better grades than ninety percent of the athletes living in this building, which was a good thing since he wanted to become a Neurosurgeon. Also he one hundred percent planned on being with Katelyn forever, and they even hoped to get into the same medical school.

Nicky’s personality on the other hand was different when he wasn’t faced with a group of people or his cousin’s rudeness. He was quieter, not all the time, but much more often than Matt had ever seen before. Nicky still made a lot of comments without thinking first, but they weren’t as bad as Matt had been expecting. 

Another thing he was learning was that Nicky and Aaron got along really well for the most part. Every now and then Nicky would make a comment that Aaron would balk at, but mostly they seemed completely comfortable around each other. They spent a lot of their time playing video games, which Matt was always willing to waste time doing also. This was exactly what they were wasting time doing now. All three of them were crammed onto the sofa playing Halo when a loud knock on their door caused them to pause the game. Matt got up to check who it was, and was surprised to find Neil. Though most of the surprise he felt had to do with the fact that Neil was smiling, and not just any smile this was the kind of smile that was left on your face after you had a good laugh.

“Hey Neil! Did you come by to hang out with us?” Matt asked him with some hope. He hadn’t got to spend any time with Neil over the summer since he had gone home to New York, and Neil had spent two weeks on a road trip with Andrew and the rest of the summer at Abby’s so they could practice with Kevin. This first week of practice was much of the same, and they didn’t really have much time to spend together. Adding six new freshmen to the lineup had been hectic, even more so on Neil with his new role of vice-captain.

Neil leaned around Matt so that he could look into the room to see what was going on. “Uhh…”

But before he could really say anything Nicky cut in, “Yeah Neil come shoot some aliens with us, I promise it’ll be fun.”

Neil’s face scrunched up like the thought of cramming onto the couch to play video games with them wasn’t his idea of fun. “I’ll pass,” he told Nicky, then turned his attention back to Matt. “We actually just came by to see if we could borrow your truck.” 

Matt took note of the use of we in that sentence and leaned out the door to look down the hall. Sure enough there was Andrew leaning against the wall just a few feet away.

“Oh, hey Andrew.” Matt said in greeting.

Andrew who had been staring at the wall opposite of him cut his eyes to look at Matt then went back to staring at the wall without saying a word. Which honestly Matt hadn’t expected anything more from him. Neil had still given no explanation to when or why he had decided to date Andrew. Matt wasn’t even sure if date was the correct word. Though after learning that Andrew had ended his deal with Aaron for Neil he realized that whatever it was between them was more serious than he originally thought. Still he kind of wished for an explanation from Neil or maybe just an insight into his head to see what he saw in Andrew Minyard, but for now he was going to continue to respect Neil’s wishes to keep that part of his life private.

“Anyways,” Neil said bringing Matt’s attention back to the conversation. “Can we borrow your truck?”

“Sure, why not,” Matt said as he turned to go retrieve his keys off of his desk. On the way back to the door he asked, “Whatcha need it for?”

“We decided to buy a sofa for our room, and Andrew refuses to strap it to the roof of his car.”

Matt felt Neil’s blasphemous words like a blow from a particularly strong Exy crash and had to reach out and brace himself on the door jamb to keep himself upright. He opened his mouth to speak, but it took him a few tries to get his words out, “Did you just….. You can’t….. Neil, how could you suggest such a thing? To a Maserati no less.”

Neil just shrugged. “People strap stuff to the roof of their cars all the time.”

Matt started to reconsider his friendship with Neil. “Neil, no...”

Before he could go on lamenting about Neil’s would be treatment of the Maserati Neil cut him off and held his hand out for the keys, “Yeah, yeah I’ve already heard all of this from Andrew. Anyways we’re kind of in a hurry because we don’t want Kevin to know we left.”

“Why?”

“Because when we mentioned it to him he went into a spiel about how certain sofas can be really bad for posture, and how bad posture can be detrimental to athletes.” Neil glanced at Andrew, and a small smile curled around his mouth. “He kept going on about the importance of posture even after Andrew threatened to stab him if he uttered the word ergonomical one more time.”

Matt looked back down the hall towards Andrew, then back at Neil. Matt didn’t really understand how Neil could stand there and smile at Andrew while he talked about him threatening to stab someone, but then again he wasn’t the one in a relationship with him either. Matt tossed the keys up and Neil reached out and caught them. “Thanks Matt,” Neil said, but before he had the chance to turn and leave Nicky voice called out and stopped him. 

“So what kind of sofa are you getting then? A Looooooove seat.”

Neil looked like he had to restrain himself from rolling his eyes at Nicky’s suggestion. He chose to completely ignore it instead and waved a hand through the air in a noncommittal gesture. “I’m not sure yet.”

“Well just make sure go to an actual furniture store and not a thrift store,” Nicky said as he gave Neil an obvious once over from where he was still seated on the couch. Alluding to the fact that Neil still dressed like a homeless person fifty percent of the time.

“What’s wrong with thrift stores?” Neil asked.

Nicky let out an offended noise at Neil’s question. “Everything Neil. Do you really want to get naked on a sofa that people have already done who knows what on?”

“Gross Nicky,” Aaron added.

Neil actually looked confused at why he would ever be naked on the sofa. At least until Andrew pushed himself off the wall and took a few steps towards him, which automatically caught Neil’s attention. Neil let out a small, 'Oh' when his gaze landed on Andrew and understanding finally clicked into place.

Matt fought to hide the smile which had crept onto his face at Neil’s expense, but Neil turned back to face him too quickly and saw it. His mouth pulled down into a frown whenever he realized that Matt was laughing at his slip up. “Anyways,” Neil said, “I don’t really care where we get it from or what kind of sofa it is. As long as it actually fits in the room and is comfortable.” Then his face brightened into a mischievous smile and he turned to look at Andrew who was now standing right beside him. “Maybe we can find an orange one?”

“No,” Andrew said then reached out towards Matt’s truck keys in Neil’s hand.

Except Neil was too fast and moved his hand out of Andrew’s reach. “We’re buying it with my money doesn’t that mean I get to pick.”

“No,” Andrew said again as he reached out to try and take the keys from Neil again.

This time Neil moved them above his head

Andrew did not look amused by Neil’s action, which to be fair Andrew hadn’t looked amused since he was taken off his medication. He dragged his eyes from the keys held high above Neil’s head down to his face. Then without warning he lunged forward and knocked into Neil, causing him to stumble backward and bring his hands down putting the keys within Andrew’s reach. Which he took advantage of by wretching them from Neil’s hand. Then without a word, he turned around and walked away.

Matt reached out and placed a hand on Neil’s back, “Damn Neil. Are you okay?” He asked.

“Such an asshole,” Neil muttered under his breath, although it came out as more of a huffed laugh. He stood up straight and rubbed at his chest, “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Matt cracked a smile at Neil’s customary answer of I’m fine, and looked down the hall at Andrew’s retreating figure. “Umm I think he’s leaving.”

Neil looked down the hall to where Andrew had nearly reached the elevator. “Hey, wait up,” Neil called out and started running down the hallway. Though it was in vain since Andrew didn’t even hesitate as he stepped into the elevator and leaned over to hit the button.

As the doors began to slide closed Neil called out again, “Andrew, don’t leave me.”

Matt watched as Neil skidded to a halt right in front of the elevators doors just as they closed and it started its descent down. Neil huffed and turned towards the stairs instead, just before he pushed open the door he turned and called back over his shoulder, “Thanks Matt, we’ll be back soon.”

“Yeah, see ya,” Matt called as the door slammed closed behind Neil. He shook his head wondering if he had just witnessed some kind of display of odd flirting as he closed his door and reclaimed his spot on the sofa.

“Ready to kill some alien bastards?” Matt asked.

“Hell yeah,” Nicky answered, and Aaron answered by hitting play on the game.

-

A few hours later Matt, Aaron, and Nicky were still playing video games when a loud knock on the door made them pause their game again for the second time that day. Matt got up to answer it and wasn’t surprised to see Neil standing outside holding his truck keys. “Here’s your keys back, thanks again for letting us borrow your truck.”

“Do you guys need any help carrying it up?” Matt asked.

“Nope,” Neil answered. “Whenever we pulled into the parking lot a group of the football players were standing around and offered to help carry it for us. I heard one of them make a comment about how Andrew and I probably couldn’t even reach the truck bed, so it’s already in the room.”

Nicky jumped off the couch. “Cool, I want to see it.”

Neil shrugged and turned to walk back down to his room, so Matt, Nicky, and even Aaron followed.

When they reached the room they could hear Kevin fuming at Andrew about how they had left without him, but it was pointless since Andrew didn’t seem to be listening at all. He was just sitting on the new sofa with a tub of ice cream in hand. The sofa itself was a nice plush black leather with oversized cushions. Matt couldn’t help but notice the new bright orange fleece blanket with little fox paws and Exy racket designs thrown over one side.

“Well you didn’t get an orange sofa, but at least you got an orange blanket,” Matt said to Neil once Nicky and Aaron had pushed past them further into the room. 

An unexpectedly fond smile spread over Neil’s face as he said, “Yeah Andrew found that at one of the stores.”

For most people it probably wouldn’t have sounded like much, but Matt understood what Neil meant. Andrew had seen that bright orange Exy blanket and had purposefully brought it to Neil, even after his refusal to get anything orange. Matt might not completely understand their relationship, but at least he knew for a fact that he didn’t have to worry about the two of them. Even if their care for the most part was unconventional, it was still obvious that they did both care about the other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a post cannon scene that I had thought up in my head for awhile now, but really had no reason to write. That was until I figured I could incorporate it into one of these prompts.
> 
> I just love the thought of Matt finally getting a glimpse into Neil and Andrew's relationship, and him finding it kind of odd, but at the same time understanding that they both really do care about each other.


	6. It Could Be Worse

This weekend had been a disaster in Nicky’s words at least Neil wouldn’t necessarily go that far, but then again his whole life had been a disaster for about nineteen years.

In truth the disaster of the weekend started the week before. When Nicky had come by their room to inform them that Aaron would be spending the weekend with Katelyn, and not coming out to Eden’s with them. It was her birthday on Thursday, and the Vixens were throwing a huge celebration for her after the game Friday night. Andrew had told Nicky that everyone else was still going to Columbia that weekend, but Nicky complained saying that if they weren’t all going they shouldn’t go at all. Andrew hadn’t bothered continuing to argue with Nicky, even though Nicky continued to try and persuade Andrew. Neil just thought that Nicky really should have realized there was no way in hell Andrew was going to stick around the dorms while people celebrated Katelyn just a few floors below.

After Friday’s close win against Breckenridge the four of them hurriedly changed and packed, so that they wouldn’t run into any of the Vixens, and left for Columbia. Their first stop at Sweety’s went fine, but they got more unlucky news when they arrived at Eden’s. Roland was out sick, which meant they would have to order drinks from a bartender that didn’t know their preferences by heart. Andrew refused to deal with that mess, and sent Nicky to the bar instead.

After ordering, paying for, and consuming their drinks Nicky headed to the dance floor alone, and things finally felt back to normal again. Neil and Andrew talked in quiet Russian to help improve their fluency having to interject some English or German whenever they stumbled over a word, while Kevin drank and complained about the new freshman’s lack of cooperation and skill.

The night went on like this for about an hour until a loud commotion came from the dance floor. Which at first they ignored since it wasn’t completely out of the norm for Eden’s, that was until they heard a very familiar voice shrieking out a slew of curses. Andrew was up and off of his stool as soon as he heard Nicky’s voice and Neil followed not a second later. They sailed down the stairs pushing people out of the way until they finally found Nicky. He was almost dead center in the middle of the dance floor drunkenly cursing at some girl while she screamed in his face in return. Andrew pushed himself in between them and stared down the girl. He didn’t even have to say a word to her, his presence alone caused the girl to falter and take a step back. Neil grabbed Nicky’s sleeve and turned to haul him away from the scene, when they were a few feet away he called back out to Andrew to let him know that Nicky was fine and that they were leaving. Andrew turned away from the girl with disinterest now that she no longer posed any kind of threat to Nicky.

Neil dragged Nicky across the dance floor, Andrew followed close behind them, and all the while Nicky flung insults back at the girl. After they made it back up the stairs and to their table Andrew got Kevin up off of his stool, and headed to the exit once he knew Kevin would follow. Which Neil was grateful for, since he didn’t want to be there any longer. Nicky on the other hand wasn’t grateful and complained the whole car ride about having to leave early, and about the girl he had nearly gotten into a fight with because he had apparently been a little too friendly with her boyfriend on the dance floor. 

When they finally reached the house Neil was relieved to find nothing was out of the ordinary. Andrew and he made sure Nicky and Kevin both successfully got to bed, and that all the doors were locked before they headed upstairs for bed also. Neil was pleased to find that the night’s events hadn’t soured Andrew’s mood enough that he wasn’t still willing to press him into the mattress and take him apart with his mouth and his hands. He was even more pleased to be allowed to return the favor. 

The left early the next morning, only stopping for a quick breakfast, and then getting back on the road towards Palmetto. They were about thirty miles outside of Columbia when they heard a loud pop and the car jerked suddenly to the right, causing Andrew to immediately slow down and pull over. Everybody filed out of the car as soon as it came to a stop, and they found one of the tires had been punctured.

Neil stood staring at the popped tire not saying a word, since he had no idea how to change a tire. When he had been on the run with his mother anytime something had gone wrong with one of the cars she had procured for them they would just leave it on the side of the road and move on. There had been no point in putting effort into fixing it when they could just get another one.  
As he stared at the flat he hoped that one of the others would speak up and offer to change it, but the way everyone else was staying just as quiet as he was didn’t bode well for that hope.

“Aaron knows how to change a flat,” Nicky said finally breaking the silence. Even if it was a useless bit of information at the moment.

“But you don’t?” Neil asked him just to clarify.

“Nope,” Nicky answers popping the ‘p’. 

Neil was fighting to not roll his eyes at Nicky, but just then movement caught his attention and he looked up to see Andrew opening the passenger door and sitting down sideways in the seat. He watched as Andrew pulled his cigarettes out and lit one, making it obvious that he didn’t know how to change a tire either. After a moment Neil dragged his eyes off of Andrew and looked over to their last remaining hope, which was immediately snuffed out when Kevin just gave him a quick jerk of his head.

Nicky broke the silence again, but this time in a much more subdued tone. “My dad tried to teach me once, but I didn’t really pay attention.” It was the first time Neil had heard Nicky mention either of his parents since that first awful thanksgiving. Neil had no idea what to say, or if he should say anything at all. He had absolutely no comfort for Nicky where his parents were concerned, but thankfully he was saved from responded when he heard the click and pop of the glove compartment opening. He turned to see Andrew digging through it, and was content to just watch until Andrew found what he was looking for and threw it at Nicky.

Nicky looked down at a book he had just barely caught, and asked, “What am I supposed to do with the instruction manual?”

“Learn now.” Andrew told him.

Nicky huffed at the command, but still dutifully began flipping through the manual until he found the right section. Nicky read out the steps they needed to take to change a flat, and Neil started moving around the car following them.

Once they had the emergency brake on, car jacked up, punctured tire off, and new tire out of the trunk they started working on trying to get it on, but something was wrong.

“It’s doesn’t fit,” Neil huffed out after he tried for the fifth time to fit the spare wheel on the car.

“That’s what he said,” Nicky shouted, then laughed at his own joke.

“That’s not helpful,” Kevin said sending Nicky a glare, which he then turned on Neil. “What are you doing wrong?”

“I’m not doing anything wrong. It just doesn’t fit.” Neil shot back as he dropped the tire. He backed away from the car, and gestured down towards the tire as he told Kevin, “You try if you think you can do any better.”

Neil walked away further into the grass to where Andrew was standing as Kevin stalked forward, picked up the tire, and started to try and fit it on the car. When Neil reached Andrew’s side he plucked the cigarette from his fingers and held it beneath his nose. Andrew sent him a look at the theft, but didn’t move to take the stick back. After a few more minutes of watching Kevin rotating the tire around in vain he dropped it back down and stood up. He crossed his arms over his chest and sent a glare towards the car. “It doesn’t fit.”

“No shit,” Neil hissed at him.

Kevin looked ready to say something back when Nicky spoke up instead, “Hey guys before you bite each other’s heads off, I think it’s the wrong size.”

“What do you mean?” Neil asked.

“Well in the manual it says the tire size should be 245/40R19, but…...,” Nicky paused as he walked towards the tire and bent down to read the numbering on it. “This one says 265/35R18. Which means were screwed and not in the good way.”

Andrew stole back his cigarette from Neil and took a long drag, which burned it down to its filter. Andrew dropped it and stomped it into the dirt, then reached into his pocket and pulled another one free. Neil watched as he lit it and took another long drag. He could tell by Andrew’s movements that he was agitated with their situation. Which was completely understandable, since they were stuck on the side of the road.

“So, what should we do now?” Nicky asked.

“I’ll call coach,” Kevin offered when nobody else spoke up to make suggestions. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and walked a few yards away. Neil watched him for a moment until a curse from Nicky got his attention.

He turned back to see Nicky frantically patting himself down, and muttering curses under his breath. Neil didn’t know what was going on, but Andrew must have caught on because he said Nicky’s name and it sounded like a threat.

“Shit,” Nicky said as he pulled on the car door handle. When it didn’t budge he ran around to the trunk. Which he also pulled on desperately, but it stayed firmly closed.

Neil finally caught on. Andrew had thrown his keys at Nicky earlier when they had to open the truck, now they were nowhere in sight. “Nicky, where are the keys?”

Nicky stopped from where he had fruitlessly been pulling on the driver side door handle. He looked over at Neil, then blanched when he glanced over at Andrew. “Well you see, what had happened was, I dropped them in the trunk when we were getting the tire out.”

Nicky didn’t finish his thought, but Neil did, “And you closed the trunk afterwards.”

“Yep, and all the doors are locked,” Nicky said feigning a nonchalantness Neil knew he wasn’t feeling. “Do you have your keys on you?”

Neil shook his head. “My keys are in my hoodie pocket, but I took it off and put it in the car before we started.” Technically it was Andrew’s hoodie, but he didn’t think that Nicky needed to know that detail.

Kevin walked back up to them at that moment. “Wymack says he knows the number of a tow company and will send them out to us. Also not to worry about the cost, because he will put it on the p-card.”

“Does he happen to know the number of a locksmith too?” Nicky asked with a strained laugh.

“Why would he…” Kevin started, but didn’t finish. He shot a look from Nicky to Neil and Andrew, and then back to Nicky. “Tell me you didn’t lock the keys in the car.”

“I didn’t lock the keys in the car,” Nicky said. Making Kevin looked relieved for all of two seconds before he added, “I locked them in the trunk.”

“Dammit Nicky.” Kevin said as he walked away to call Wymack back.

While they waited for Kevin Andrew turned and walked further away from the road to where the tree line started. He sat down in the shade of one of the trees and leaned his back against it. Knowing that they were going to be waiting for a while Neil walked over and joined him. He sat against the same tree so that he could catch the trails of smoke coming off of Andrew’s cigarette. Nicky followed too, sat down under a different tree, and pulled out his phone to keep himself occupied.

After another few minutes had passed, Kevin joined them. “Wymack says the tow company will be able to pop the lock also, but it might take them an hour to reach us.”

Nicky groaned at the news, but didn’t say anything.

“It could be worse,” Neil said. He didn’t know exactly why he said it. Maybe it was because it was true. Last night and this morning were annoying inconveniences at best. The four of them new painfully well that life could throw much worse at them then a flat tire.

What Neil wasn’t expecting was the reaction his words got. As soon as he said them Nicky, Kevin, and Andrew’s heads swiveled his way, and they all sent him flabbergasted looks. Although Andrew’s was much more muted than Nicky and Kevin’s.  
“Don’t say that,” Nicky hissed at him then sent a worried look at the sky, which had been completely cloudy since they had woken up that morning.

“Why not?” Neil asked.

“Because you just can’t.” Nicky answered unhelpfully.

“What’s wrong with saying it could be…..” But Andrew reached over and covered his mouth with his hand effectively cutting Neil off.

“I can’t believe you were about to say it again, stop tempting fate like that.” Nicky told him, then asked, “Haven’t you ever seen a tv show or movie where someone says the dreaded phrase and everything instantly gets worse?”

Neil tugged Andrew’s hand off of his mouth and answered, “No, I haven’t.”

Nicky held his hands out like he couldn’t believe what Neil was telling him. “Come on Neil, it’s like on ever tv show ever.”

“Well I haven’t seen a lot of tv shows.” Neil countered.

“Just don’t say it again,” Kevin demanded of him.

Neil wasn’t surprised by Nicky’s dramatics, but he couldn’t believe that Kevin and even Andrew were also playing into whatever this was. “Seriously? Do you really think things are going to get worse just because I said four words?” Neil asked them, and as soon as he did he felt a wet plop on his head. He felt his eyes widen at the uncanny timing, and didn’t want to look up. After a few more drops of water hit his head he was forced to though. What he saw was that the clouds had darkened considerably in the last few minutes, and were now dropping a light rain down on them.

Now that he had looked up at the clouds he didn’t want to look back down at his friends expressions, but knew he couldn’t keep staring up at the rain either. He tore his eyes away from the clouds which had betrayed him and looked back down at his friends. Nicky was pointing up at the sky in an I told you so gesture, Kevin was sending him a dark glare, and Andrew was pulling his hood up over his head.

Once Andrew had covered his head he turned just slightly so that he could look at Neil, and said in Russian, “That mouth of yours is trouble.”

Neil had nothing to say in response. He knew logically that it would have rained on them whether or not he had said the ‘dreaded phrase’, as Nicky had called it, or not. He also knew that there was no point in arguing about his mouths ability to conjure up trouble, so he ducked his head down and waited.

Luckily it continued as a light rain only and didn’t turn into a full blown thunderstorm. That still didn’t change the fact that they were completely soaked by the time Wymack and the tow truck made it to them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is actually set during Neil's third year at Palmetto. After the girl's have graduated, and it's Kevin and Matt's fifth year.
> 
>  
> 
> The part where Nicky is getting 'too friendly' with the guy on the dance floor is completely consensual. The guy and Nicky were dancing and the girl just got jealous that her BF was all up on Nicky.


	7. I'm Pregnant

It was a cold rainy day in Denver. One of those rainy winter days where it wasn’t quite cold enough to snow, but still cold enough for the rain to be freezing and unbearable. Thankfully the awful weather outside wasn’t affecting Andrew in the slightest, since he was tucked up inside the apartment with the heat on, a pile of soft blankets, and their mini personal heaters a.k.a. Sir and King. The only problem this weather posed for him was to make him worry about a certain idiot of his who was out in it.

Neil had retired from Exy last year, and Andrew had called it quits three years ago. In his own opinion Andrew thought he had handled his retirement gracefully, Neil on the other hand hadn’t handled his own quite as well. The first few months had gone okay, but as soon as the off season ended and games started again Neil’s antsiness reared its ugly head. He tried working out and going for runs to keep a lid on it, but soon that wasn’t enough.

Neil had too much energy and no fulfilling outlet for it anymore. So together Andrew and he tried to find something for him to put all of his extra time into. Andrew suggested he get a new hobby, which had offended Neil to no end. He told Andrew that Exy wasn’t a hobby, and that he wasn’t going to be done with it just because he had retired. That whole conversation had reminded Andrew of the sweatshirt Dan and Matt had bought Neil that said Exy is Life, and how he took that sentiment a bit too literally.

While they tried to find Neil something that would occupy his time for most of the week they knew they wouldn’t have to worry about Friday nights, since that was Exy game night. They planned on attending their team’s home games, watching their away games on tv, and recordings Kevin’s games to watch later. So they bought season tickets, and realized it had been a mistake during the first game. Being in the stands instead of down on the court drove Neil insane. He screamed at the plexiglass walls, cursed the refs for every call he deemed bad, and nearly got himself kicked out for arguing with an opposing fan. What was worse was that after the games Neil stewed in the fact that he was pissed off about the outcome, but could do absolutely nothing about it. On more than one occasion Andrew had woken up in the middle of the night to find Neil rewatching a recording of those games, and breaking down the plays in his old journal.

Seeing as sitting at home and going to the games was making Neil more agitated they decided to get out of Denver. They went to Europe to see Nicky and Eric, and to visit some of the places Neil had been through with his mother. They visited the other Foxes also, and went to watch a few of Kevin’s games in person. Which didn’t bother Neil as much as watching their own teams games, because at least after Kevin’s games he could bitch at him for everything he’d done wrong. The travelling helped. Neil seemed more contained, but they couldn’t stay away from the cats forever and a few days after arriving home Neil’s anxiousness would set in again.

Throughout the year Neil grew some micro obsessions, but nothing that stuck. The Exy season drew to a close, and they still hadn’t found any kind of permanent solution for Neil. Andrew worried if his mental health would get better or worse as the years kept going. Then a few weeks after the end of the season they got a call from Kevin. His team along with Thea had finally demanded convinced him to retire, which wasn’t exactly surprising news. For the past few seasons he had been debating about retiring, but in the end kept holding out. Finally it seemed that he realized, just as Neil had last year that he couldn’t play as competitively as he wanted to anymore.

During the call Andrew had momentarily wondered if Kevin’s retirement would put any more stress on Neil. Neil was a junkie for the sport, but Kevin brought the words obsessive bastard to a whole new level. So if Neil’s retirement had been hard Kevin’s was going to hit him like a freight train. Andrew could foresee them spiraling together this coming season, hopefully Kevin wouldn’t start drinking excessively again.

Turns out Andrew had been worried for nothing, because Kevin wasn’t just calling to announce his retirement. He was also calling to make Neil an offer. Kevin had been approached by ESPN-Exy about becoming an analyst/game announcer, and they wanted Neil to be his co-host. Neil’s mouth had caused a few problems for him all throughout college and into his pro career, but the fans loved it. Apparently they loved it enough that there was a large demand for him to come back into the sport. Andrew could see this either getting the station a huge boost in ratings or backfiring spectacularly. 

After a lengthy chat about whether Neil should accept or not, since it would entail a lot of travelling, they decided it would be good for him. Neil accepted the offer, and over the last few months of him working Andrew had seen a dramatic improvement in his demeanor. Neil had been lost last year, but this year he was paid to watch all the games, checks stats, break down plays, and loudly give his opinion. He might no longer be playing professionally Exy, but he is thriving again.

The last games of the Exy regular season had been played last night, which meant Neil should be getting home soon. Neil had to fly out for games most weekends, sometimes Andrew went with him. Like if there was a game in Chicago were Aaron lived, Georgia were Renee lived, or near South Carolina so he could visit Bee, Wymack, and Abby. This weekend the game Neil commentated on was in San Francisco, and there was no way in hell Andrew would have gone to it. 

The sound of the front door opening caught his attention. From where Andrew and the cats were piled together on the sofa he couldn’t see it, but knew it was Neil because he texted him about thirty minutes ago saying he had just landed. He expected Neil to come around the corner and start excitedly spewing Exy, but instead Andrew heard some odd shuffling noises, a hushed whisper, and Neil detouring straight towards their bedroom. Knowing that Neil acting suspiciously could never be a good thing Andrew extracted himself from the sofa, the blankets, and the cats and went in search of him.

Andrew reached the bedroom right as Neil opened the door to their bathroom. He hadn’t seemed to notice that Andrew was standing behind him yet, so Andrew took a moment to take him in. He was hunched over, hands clutched around his stomach, and shuffling towards the bathtub. There could be any number of reasons for Neil’s awkward stance, but only one was flashing a warning sign in Andrew’s head right then.

“You better not have been stabbed,” Andrew said finally alerting Neil to his presence. Which would be a ridiculous thing to assume of most people, but this was Neil Josten and there was always the chance he had pissed off someone enough to make them stab him.

Neil actually startled at Andrew’s words. Which just added to the oddity of his behavior right then, since it was usually impossible to sneak up on him. Neil bunched his coat tighter around himself, and moved only his head to look back over his shoulder at Andrew. “Hi. I didn’t hear you come in, and no I wasn’t stabbed. I haven’t been stabbed in years.”

Andrew could tell by the way his smile was a bit too on the fake side, and the way he was trying to act cute that he was definitely hiding something. Since Andrew was not the type of person to play along with anyone’s bullshit he cut right to the point. “What are you hiding Neil?”

In answer Neil sent a dramatic searching look around his body, and said, “I’m not hiding anything.”

“Then turn around.”

Realizing that Andrew wasn’t going to let this drop Neil sighed, and turned around. With Neil now facing him fully Andrew could see the large circle shaped lump that he had been trying to conceal under his jacket. “What is that?”

“Nothing.”

“Neil,” Andrew growled out as he took a step towards him in a quiet demand for him to cut his bullshit.

“I’m pregnant.”

“No, what you are is idiot.” After a few more steps Andrew reached Neil, and tugged on the corner of his jacket. “Show me.”

Neil unwrapped one of his arms and let Andrew pull open his jacket. He wasn’t sure what to expect, and still was not completely convinced that Neil wasn’t hiding a stab wound. So when all he saw was a balled up sweatshirts hugged tight to Neil’s stomach he was justifiably confused. He was just about to ask why Neil felt the need to be hiding it when instead he heard a soft mew emit from it. Neil reacted instantly to the noise, and started to unwrap the sweatshirt. 

Andrew wasn’t a man of many words on most days, but there were not a lot of times he had been rendered speechless either. Any time it had happened though it always seemed to be caused by the man standing in front of him. The man who was currently holding a tiny, wet, and shivering orange kitten in his hands.

Andrew stared at Neil and the kitten for what seemed like an endless moment before finally finding his voice again, and asking, “Why?”

Neil ran a soothing hand along the kitten’s back as he said, “I found her trying to hide from the rain under my car at the airport parking lot.” He then held the kitten out towards Andrew, “Look at her she is tiny, and shaking still.”

Andrew agreed she was shaking and so tiny. The kitten probably was only a month old, but Neil hadn’t answered his question. “What are you planning on doing with this cat?”

Neil hugged the kitten back to his chest. “I was going to give her a bath to help warm her up, and also because she is really dirty.”

“And then?” Andrew asked, even though he was fairly certain he knew the answer.

Neil smirked. “Then I was going to release her into the apartment, and see how long it took you to notice.”

“And when I put it back outside where it belongs?”

“You wouldn’t.”

“You’re an idiot,” Andrew confirmed again. Then stalked past him, and turned on the bath water.

-

After they finished bathing the kitten, and taking a quick shower themselves, they carried her out to the living room for King and Sir to inspect. Years ago when Neil had moved to Denver they had decided to adopt another cat, so that King wouldn’t be alone when they were away for games. Though King’s reaction when they brought home Sir was anything but grateful. She hissed and swatted at Sir anytime she would get close to her, or anything she deemed hers.

Andrew was expecting for King to react to the new kitten in much of the same way, probably even Sir would be territorial now also. Except when Neil placed the kitten on the ground in front of the sofa neither Sir nor King could be bothered to do more than sniff in its general direction then go back to their nap. Andrew knew his cats were lazy, but this was bringing laziness to a whole new level.

When it became obvious that neither Sir or King were going to have a problem with the new kitten Neil let her go, so she could explore the apartment freely. Andrew then bundled himself back into the blankets on the sofa and Neil joined him. For a few moments they watched as the kitten explored her new territory before Neil broke the silence and asked, “What should we name her?”

“Cat 3”

“No.”

“Cat who is going back outside once spring is here.”

“That’s way too long, and also completely untrue,” Neil said as he curled further into Andrew’s side. “I think we should keep with the noble titles.”

“What do you have in mind?” Andrew asked since it seemed obvious that Neil had an idea. 

“Lady Meowsketeer.”

“You’re as bad as Nicky.”

Neil laughed at the insult and bent down to pick up Lady from where she had been trying and failing to jump onto the sofa. “Don’t be a jerk to Lady. She loves her new name, don’t you,” Neil cooed.

Andrew was sitting in the corner of the sofa with an arm wrapped around Neil who was pressed into his side. Sir was in his lap, King was somewhere by Neil’s feet, and Lady was currently trying to dig her way into the blanket pile that covered all of them. As Andrew took them in he thought that no the rainy cold weather outside really couldn’t affect him at all, because he had everything he needed right there.

-

The next day when they took Lady to the vet they found out she was in fact male.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Question - Can you have that kind of weather in Denver, or is it always just so cold it snows. I'm from texas and the weather switching from cold miserable rain to actual snow doesn't happen a lot.
> 
> Also why is it always cold in raining when I write my cat fics.
> 
> -So I have my own headcanon that both King and Sir are both female cats. because Nora says that Sir is a tortoiseshell cat - which genetically 99% of the time is female. And also because it's fanon that King is a girl.  
> So I thought it would be funny for them to just assume the next cat was also a girl, but surprise, this one is male.


	8. I though you were dead.

Winter in Denver could be a beautiful sight. Snow covering the ground and flurrying through the air, plus holiday lights twinkling on every house. Andrew had heard it described as a magical sight or a winter wonderland on many different occasions, he didn’t necessarily agree with the sentiments though. What exactly was wonderful about everything, including yourself, being frozen, or magical about idiots precariously hanging off the roof to attach lights to it?

Speaking of idiots precariously hanging off of roofs, there happened to be a certain auburn haired one hanging off of his this very moment. For the past hour Andrew had been trying to ignore the continuous thump thump thumping noise of Neil attempting to attach a full-sized Santa sleigh with all nine reindeers included to their roof. That atrocity had arrived last night just in time for Neil to put the crowning jewel, as he had referred to it, on their house for Christmas Eve.

Neil’s extreme decorating had started at the beginning of the month when Carroll, their passive-aggressive neighbor across the street, had made a comment about how sad it was that Andrew and Neil’s house was ruining the holiday spirit of the neighborhood by being the only one to not have any lights up. Andrew who had not been planning on putting any up anyways would have left the house the way it was out of spite, but the comment had lit a fire in Neil. Not wanting to disappoint Sheryll he made it his mission to buy every Christmas light decoration he could find.

At first, Charlene was very happy that they had decided to get into the holiday spirit, but that changed by the next week. Everyday Neil added more and more decorations until their yard was full of candy canes, penguins, gingerbread men, polar bears, and every imaginable Santa Claus you could find. The house had enough lights on it to make Clark Griswold proud. Last week, when the ten foot inflatable snowman was put up Caroline, started making not so subtle comments about how their house and yard couldn’t possibly hold any more decorations. Each time Neil had smiled his icy smile at her, and Andrew knew she wouldn’t make the mistake of commenting on their home decor ever again.

Andrew attempted for the fifth time to go back to reading his book while trying to ignore Neil’s clattering on the roof. The book had been an early Christmas present form Robin, and if he could ever make it past the first few chapters he was sure it was going to be a good read. Thankfully the racket above him stopped, and he took the opportunity to finish his chapter. Another few minutes of silence passed when he heard a loud crash come from the roof. Which was immediately followed by a slew of curses, and what sounded suspiciously like something sliding across the roof. Andrew looked up just in time to see a body fall past the window and crash into the concrete below.

Fear flooded Andrew’s veins. He leaped from the sofa, raced to the front door, and slammed it open. Laying outside on the driveway was a broken body. As Andrew stared at the scene in front of him every instance of the threat he had made to Neil about pushing him off the roof came flooding back to his mind. He had thought then that getting rid of Neil before he had the chance to burrow any further into his chest would be easier than dealing with the fallout later, but now he knew he had been wrong. The nauseating fear that had seized him now was so much more painful than anything he had felt then.

“I dropped Santa.” 

Andrew’s head whipped up to look at where Neil was perched much too close to the edge of the roof. Neil wasn’t looking back at him though, instead he was looking towards the bashed apart Santa on the ground. Clearly, he was unaware of how much turmoil he had just caused Andrew. “I thought you were dead.”

Neil finally looked at him. “I’m fine,” he said. It was still his typical answer to most questions concerning his health, but at least this time it was true. “Santa doesn’t look like he is going to make it though,” he added.

“Get off the roof.”

“But I’m not done yet,” Neil shot back in an almost petulant whine.

Andrew indicated down to where the plastic Santa was laying in pieces on the concrete beside him. “Santa says otherwise.” 

Neil huffed at him, but after a few seconds he carefully made his way to the ladder and climbed down. Once he was safely back on the ground Andrew was overcome with the urge to go and check him over for injuries even though reasonably he knew he wouldn’t find any. Instead, he forced himself to remain where he was and waited for Neil to come to him. Once Neil reached his side Andrew wrapped a hand around his waist, the grounding touch helped to erase the last of his fear.

Neil leaned into his side and looked up to where he had successfully attached the reindeer and the sleigh to the roof. “I guess we'll just have to have a Santaless sleigh.”

“We’re hiring someone to come take all of this down immediately.”

“No. I want to leave it up for our family to see next week, I bet Nicky won’t believe that this is our house.” Neil turned to look over his shoulder across the street, and a devilish smile spread across his face. “Plus I want to see how long we can leave it up before Charlotte loses her mind.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays


	9. You fainted straight into my arms. You know, if you wanted my attention you didn’t have to go to such extremes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is an AU. They both play Exy and are on the same pro team, but it's not canon universe like all of my other fics in this series.
> 
> Just wanted to add that before everybody got super confused.

Neil blinked his eyes open, and immediately had to squeeze them shut as he was blinded by bright fluorescent light. He waited for the pain to stop then slowly opened them again, allowing himself time to adjust to the harsh light. Once his eyes were fully opened he looked around and was annoyed to find himself in a hospital room. A few years ago the site would have sent him into a panic, but a few years ago he was still a runaway nobody and not legally Neil Josten.

Today the site just made him confused. Though most of that confusion had to deal with the fact that Andrew Minyard the goalie on his Exy team was occupying the only available chair in the room. He has been on the same team as Andrew since he transferred at the beginning of the year, but none of the interactions they have had so far would explain why he would be in his hospital room. The most they interacted was during practices when Neil tried his best to get Andrew to look like he cared about the game even a little bit, but so far he has failed to get any kind of reaction out of the blond.

Andrew must have felt his gaze on him because he shifted his head from where he had been staring out the window and looked at Neil instead. They held each other’s gaze for a while as Neil thought about what had caused him to be in the hospital, and why Andrew would be there with him. The only thing he could remember from earlier, at least he hoped it was the same day, was going to practice though.

When nothing else was forthcoming he started to open his mouth to ask why he was there, but Andrew beat him to it. “You fainted straight into my arms. You know if you wanted my attention you didn’t have to go to such extremes.”

Neil felt his cheeks flush at Andrew’s words. Now he remembered feeling a little woozy at practice earlier. He had stayed up way too late last night going over Exy plays, which had caused him to skip breakfast that morning since he had overslept.

He wanted to bury his head under his pillow at the thought of fainting during practice because he was too much of a mess to feed himself properly. What was even worse was the thought of Andrew Minyard having been the one to catch him.

“It wasn’t my intention,” he tried to explain.

Andrew raised an eyebrow at him, and they held each other’s gazes again. Until Andrew gave a slight shrug and said, “Too bad.”

Neil’s blush crept down his neck. “Are you flirting with me while I’m wearing a hospital gown?”

Andrew’s face dropped back into his normal blank expression. “No.”

“Oh, really? Cause I’m pretty sure I saw you checking me out at practice more than once.”

“And?” Andrew asked.

It seemed Andrew wasn’t sure if Neil was trying to badly flirt with him, or if he was accusing him of something. So Neil decided to clear things up for him. “And maybe the next time we go somewhere alone together it won’t be to a hospital.”

The tension in Andrew’s shoulders melted away, and he leaned back further into his chair. “You do owe me for this.”

“I guess it’s a date then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to write something for Neil's(Nathaniel's) birthday, and I had this one nearly completed.
> 
> Happy Birthday you little asshole.


End file.
